“Tian?”

  Fenix was angry. He glanced at her briefly, then went back to staring at the Gate.

  “Tian!” she called again.

  Why was she so aggressive?

  “Tian, did you take your drawings? We need to go; I received information everybody is there already; they are waiting for us. You, specifically.”

  Then he recalled that he was supposed to be doing something entirely different.

  Opening day. And their problems, Tian knew, were awfully shallow. Seriously, they still hadn’t solved it?

  When they needed him, there was the attention, and they were treating him like he wasn’t fifteen but forty and had a doctorate. But when they didn’t need him anymore, he was treated as a moody teenager.

  People.

  On the other hand, he didn’t blame them, ordinarily at least. Sometimes he didn’t know—sometimes, somehow—he got lost in himself too.

  No one, including himself, knew how to approach him.

  Was he still a kid or a teenager, or was he an adult?

  It had been like this for years. He was swinging between being a child and a man, all because of his talent. It was his curse.

  Fenix treated him as her younger brother. She adopted him formally after what had happened to his family.

  What had happened back then didn’t help Tian get his emotions under control. She tried to help him and create a home for them both.

  It wasn’t easy.

  Tian was perceived as quite difficult to handle, and he could tell.

  He was.

  Unfortunately, everyone needed him. Tian had recently reread old materials that the traitors had left. They were written in the old language, which he learned by himself, and he began to translate.

  He found a gold mine within these documents. Many tips on how to better cultivate their Ability. A lot about energy farming. It improved the food so well that they even encountered a problem no one suspected.

  The wave of obesity astonished them all.

  Tian found out more. The fight training procedures. Transportation—his sister could finally learn it. He might one day. But Fenix could.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  … And other notes about things they didn’t need presently, but who knew about the future?

  For now, their future was not that bright.

  Fenix had been appointed as the Leader here after they managed their biggest issues. The civil war was a disaster, but they killed the traitors and their fighters in the end.

  Though the Gate was broken, it was detached from the rest of the planets.

  Why did these traitors do it?

  From what he had found out, they feared someone. So, they destroyed two Crystals’ power banks, and the Gate stopped working.

  The problem was that they didn’t have any spare Crystals on this planet.

  The first hunger started soon after. Later, the epidemic struck.

  As if they were fated to die here, on the former Planet Three, currently called Bonaire.

  … Was it even possible to repair the Gate?

  This was what Tian was thinking about.

  “I beg you, come with me, and let’s help our people first. We need to have it ready for the demo, and it was your idea! Dreams, later.”

  “Sister, seriously, how naive. Dreams? It should be our biggest concern, the Gate and how to contact Unio. Fuck, be wise!” Tian shouted back.

  Fenix visibly controlled her nerves, swallowing her response, allowing him to continue shouting.

  “You think about it; stop avoiding it; Dennis is alive. I told you what was in the data; he can morph. He is among us. But fuck Dennis—whatever! Unio, they will fly here. Dennis and the rest of the fucking morons were using old weapons to kill in the attacks. Do you have dementia? Despite it being impossible with your Ability, perhaps you do? Because if not, then I would have to think my sister is stupid—”

  Here she didn’t manage. Fenix came close and hit him on the head.

  “Tian! How dare you!” she shouted.

  And instantly she calmed down.

  “Fuck, why? Am I telling lies?” he shouted back, angry.

  “No. Tian, you don’t. Why do you need to speak like that?” she asked, not angry anymore.

  He calmed down as well. They sometimes quarreled like that. They were not real siblings. And yet.

  “Sister, all right. Let’s go to the event,” he said and got up.

  However, Tian didn’t agree with it. It was insanely idiotic.

  “… Fuck, no, think about it. What I wanted to say is—they would arrive here. I assume that they need a few more years to build the ship, but they will. If I were them, I would assemble it on Planet Four, which is closest to here. And fly to look for those who were behind the attacks. For the knowledge as well. It’s weapons, sister. Unio won’t let it slip. I suggest, as I have been saying for another year, that we need to make contact first. We! We need to open the Gate, pull down our trousers, show them everything we have, and pray we are not destroyed.”

  It was the truth. They had to stop avoiding admitting that this was the situation.

  The longer they waited, the worse it got. Maybe he was fifteen, but for fuck’s sake, he was not an idiot. A child would have figured it out. Or not? Possibly, they were idiots. Or perhaps they were extraordinarily simple cowards.

  Fucking reality. And he would probably get his head kicked again for his swearing. As if it really was the most important part of what he said.

  … His thoughts were looping in his mind. Tian was almost about to start saying something else, but Fenix finally took a breath.

  Then she simply nodded.

  He shut up. And followed her to the event.

  …

  [Bonaire archive:

  177 ACD-7: Mr. Tian Dienes breached the dress code by wearing pajama trousers, which were explicitly prohibited under the regulations drafted for this event. The chief of the science center informed Mr. Dienes of the breach and requested that he change his attire. Unfortunately, Mr. Dienes declined, and his response to the SC chief, to quote, ‘no shortage of absurdity,’ resulted in Mr. Tian Dienes being unable to attend the event.]

  …